Deepening DHS Engagement with Tribal Partners

Native Americans play a critical role in homeland security – helping secure our borders, protect critical infrastructure, share information about threats, and prepare for and respond to disasters and emergencies. Tribes are important partners to the Department, and that's why today we took an important step forward to enhance our engagement with tribes across the United States.

Building on the Department's first-ever Tribal Consultation Policy announced by Secretary Napolitano last year, today we unveiled a new Tribal Consultation and Coordination Plan. This plan is a direct result of President Obama's Memorandum on Tribal Consultation signed in November 2009 that called for deeper engagement across the federal government with tribal officials.

The Tribal and Coordination Plan will ensure regular and meaningful collaboration with our tribal partners on a host of important issues. For example, it includes hiring a full time tribal liaison to work directly with tribes and serve as their point of contact for matters related to the Department. Under the plan, we also will actively encourage tribal law enforcement inclusion in state and local fusion centers, where they will work side by side with federal, state and local law enforcement to share information.

In addition, we will continue to engage tribes in the development of the Department's regulatory policies, grant programs, and other initiatives impacting tribes so that that their voices are heard and they have a seat at the table during the policy-making process. And we're going to continue to work closely with tribes to improve emergency management collaboration and planning.

In developing this new plan, we reached out to all 564 federally recognized tribes to make sure their views were reflected in the final document. The release of this new plan of action marks the beginning of a new phase of engagement with tribes and Indian Country, and the Department is pleased to be working closely with such important partners to our nation's security.

For more information about our work with tribes, or to read the new Tribal Consultation and Coordination Plan, please visit "Secretary Napolitano Unveils DHS Tribal Consultation and Coordination Plan."

Juliette Kayyem
Assistant Secretary, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

International Information Sharing: Advancing Security and Protecting Privacy

One of the most important realities highlighted by the attempted Christmas Day terrorist attack is that in this day and age, aviation security is a responsibility shared among nations. The attempted terrorist had an itinerary that spanned three countries, and citizens of 17 countries were traveling on board that flight.

In light of this attack, we are working with our international partners to bolster global security measures and standards for aviation security. Part of this effort is sharing the kind of information needed to keep terrorists off airplanes. We have a good template for future information-sharing accords in the agreements we already have, which maintain high privacy standards while sharing important security information.

For example, DHS has an agreement with the European Union to allow air carriers to share Passenger Name Record (PNR) data with DHS so we can determine whether people traveling to and from the United States have ties to terrorism. This data protects not only U.S. citizens, but any person traveling to the United States –so the continued partnership of our European allies on this program is vital. Earlier this week, as part of a regular review process, expert representatives of the European Union conducted a review of the effectiveness and privacy protections of this agreement, and even saw the system in action at Dulles International Airport near Washington.

This kind of information sharing is critical to securing the international aviation system. Last month I went to Spain to meet with my European colleagues on how we can improve aviation security, and this week I’m traveling to Mexico to discuss how countries in this hemisphere can work collaboratively toward this goal.

Because the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) does not conduct screening at foreign airports, I am committed to strengthening coordination with international partners to implement stronger and more effective measures to protect air travel while continuing to protect privacy.

Our efforts will follow the lead of our past actions to improve security, where we have created effective systems, set high standards, and met them.

Janet Napolitano

Strengthening Partnerships with our International Allies

Yesterday I announced my upcoming trip and some of the initiatives we’ll be advancing with our overseas partners, especially with respect to our counter-terrorism mission.

We recently signed several important agreements with our European allies to improve information sharing and enhance collaboration on the development of science and technology. My trip, which begins this Saturday and will include visits to Ireland, Britain, Portugal, and Spain, with a final stop in Kuwait to visit our Coast Guard operations, will build on these and other efforts.

• In Ireland I will assess preparations for aviation preclearance operations, which are scheduled to begin on July 29.


• In the UK, I’ll be meeting with the new Home Secretary and the new Transport Secretary on a number of issues, including cyber-security, science and technology collaboration, countering violent extremism, and civil aviation security.


• In Portugal, we will discuss ways to improve and increase information sharing to counter threats in both of our countries.


• And in Spain we will discuss enhancing the security of air travel between our two countries, building off of the recent agreements we’ve made to improve criminal information sharing and science and technology cooperation.

In addition to these issues, we will focus on matters of interest to both the United States and European Union as a whole, including the protection of privacy while improving law enforcement and security cooperation, and the Visa Waiver Program and its security enhancements.

We have a strong partnership with Europe when it comes to fighting terrorism and other forms of transnational crime. In the coming weeks, I’ll be talking more about our counter-terrorism efforts both at home and abroad, especially as we approach the 5th anniversary of the release of the 9/11 Commission Report on July 22.

It will be a good opportunity to assess how far we’ve come in our fight against terrorism, our work to secure our country – and what steps remain.

Janet Napolitano